The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has arrested Gannon Ken Van Dyke, an enlisted member of the US Army’s special forces, for allegedly using “secret, non-public” information about the kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to obtain more than $400,000 in profits from the Polymarket business. A grand jury indicted him on five counts, including multiple violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.
Van Dyke is the first person to be charged with insider trading in the United States. Lawmakers have been raising concerns for months about the high possibility that politicians and government officials could use non-public information to profit from trading on industry-leading platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi, which became popular last year.
The arrests come weeks after Justice Department prosecutors met with Polymarket about possible cultural violations. In February, Israeli authorities arrested two civilians, a military officer and a civilian, for allegedly leaking classified information by making bets on Polymarket related to military operations. Kalshi, Polymarket’s main competitor in the United States, recently fined three politicians for violating its insider trading rules, but did not flag the violation for further enforcement by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that oversees futures markets.
After Van Dyke’s arrest was made public, Polymarket posted a statement on social media noting that it had “identified a user who traded in confidential government information” and “referred the matter to the DOJ and cooperated with their investigation.” The company declined to comment further.
According to court documents, Van Dyke has been an active duty US soldier since September 2008 and rose to the rank of master sergeant in 2023. At the time of the alleged trading activity, he was stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was assigned to the Special Operations Command Western Hemisphere Operations.
“I have been clear that anyone who engages in fraud, manipulation, or insider trading in any of our markets will face the full force of the law,” CFTC chairman Michael Selig said in a statement. “The defendant was entrusted with classified information about US operations and yet he took action that jeopardized US national security and put the lives of US service members at risk.”
The complaint alleges that Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of Maduro’s arrest and knew he was not authorized to share non-public information about the US war. The complaint says Van Dyke signed a nondisclosure agreement that prohibits him from disclosing sensitive or confidential government information “in writing, verbally, by conduct, or otherwise.” The complaint also states that Van Dyke saved a screenshot on his Google account “showing the results of an artificial intelligence query” explaining that the US Special Forces maintains many classified files including “operational information not available to the public.”
On December 26, Van Dyke allegedly opened an account at Polymarket and withdrew approximately $35,000 from his bank account before transferring it to a cryptocurrency exchange.
The next day, Van Dyke allegedly made his first Venezuela-related trade on Polymarket, placing a little under $100 on a “YES” contract that US troops would be in Venezuela on January 31, 2026. Prosecutors allege that he ultimately made 13 Venezuela-related trades on the platform, seven of which—totaling “thousands of shares”… January 31, 2026.” words, Van Dyke allegedly tried to make a big profit if the Venezuelan leader leaves office at the end of the month.
